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Guide

Create a data source and show it in a widget

A widget should show news, a table, reviews, or a dashboard from another system.

5 min readUpdated Oct 30, 2026As Markdown
For
anyone who feeds the apps Posts, Table, Reviews, Dashboard, Warning, or Calendar with data from other systems
Prerequisite
the Manage data sources permission, which Owners and Managers have by default. Most kinds also need a connection.
Where in the portal
Data sources › Create source
On this page

A data source tells Szenera what to fetch and how often. Create it once, then choose it in the widget of an app.

Steps

Create a source

  1. Open Data sources and click Create source.
  2. Choose the kind of source. The kinds are ordered by form: Posts, Table, Reviews, View, Warning, and Events. Change takes you back to this choice.
  3. Under Connection, choose the connection. If exactly one fits, it is already chosen. If none exists, Set up connection takes you there. News feeds, warnings, Looker Studio reports, and posts on X need no connection. A Power BI report needs the service account of your organization. Posts on X need the booked app Posts from X, and To the store takes you there if it is missing.
  4. Choose what to read, such as the site, file, sheet, dashboard, report, or calendar. The reference lists the choices for each kind.
  5. Check the Name. The window suggests one, such as “Warnings for your locations”.
  6. Under Refresh, choose how often Szenera fetches the source. If a kind offers only one interval, this choice is missing.
  7. Click Fetch a sample if you want to see what the source delivers first. Own warnings have no sample.
  8. Click Create. The window confirms “The source is created and is being fetched for the first time.” and the source opens.

Choose a source in a widget

  1. Place the widget of one of the apps in a scene and open its settings window (Configure widgets).
  2. Under Source, choose a source. The list shows only sources of the matching form. If there is none, Create source opens the Data sources page in a new tab, ready for that form.
  3. Below the list you see the Connection, the interval, the state, and the number of entries. Fetch now fetches the source right away. To the source under Data sources opens it.

Interval and Fetch now act on the source, so on every content that shows it. The widget only remembers which source it uses.

Look at a source and keep it running

Click a row on the Data sources page to open the source. The view shows Status, Last fetched, Next fetch, and Used. After a failed fetch, Last error joins them. What the source delivers is a preview, and History lists the latest fetches.

  • Fetch now fetches the source immediately.
  • Pause stops the fetches, and the displays keep showing the last data. Resume starts them again.
  • Extend sign-in or Reconnect appears when the sign-in of the connection is missing.
  • Delete exists only for sources you created yourself. Content that shows the source stays empty until you choose another one.

A news app creates its own sources. You change them in the widget, and here only the interval and pausing. If nobody reads such a source for a week, it disappears. Without the Manage data sources permission, the view has no buttons.

Check the result

The new source appears in the list as Fetching, shortly afterward as Current. Its view shows a preview and the first fetch in the History. Once a widget uses the source, Used shows the number of contents, such as “1 content”.

If something goes wrong

Symptom Cause Solution
Create source is grayed out You lack the Manage data sources permission. Ask an Owner or Manager (Roles and permissions).
“This needs a connection to Microsoft.” No connection fits the kind, or it lacks the needed capability. Set up a connection with the fitting capability.
“Power BI reads only through the service account of your organization at Microsoft 365. Set it up under connections.” Only accounts of people are connected, and no service account. Set up the connection with As the organization service account (Release Power BI).
A note says the source needs the app to be booked The app Posts from X is not booked or not installed. Click To the store and book the app.
Failing with a reason under Last error The provider did not answer or answered with an error. Click Fetch now later. If the problem persists, check the service at the provider.
Sign-in needed The provider rejected the sign-in of the connection. Click Extend sign-in or Reconnect in the view. For Grafana, click New key under Settings › Organization › Connections.
The history says “provider's fetch limit reached” The provider allows no further fetches for the period. Nothing. The next fetch follows as soon as it is free again.
“None of your locations has a position.” No location carries latitude and longitude. Enter the position under Settings › Organization › Locations (Create locations and assign displays to them).
5 min readUpdated Oct 30, 2026As Markdown

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